King Salmon chief hails ‘unique’ product

GRANT Rosewarne, CEO and managing director of New Zealand King Salmon, spoke of the uniqueness of his product when he addressed Marel’s Salmon ShowHow in Copenhagen last week.
He was one of the two main speakers at the event, the other being Trond Davidsen, president of the International Salmon Farmers Association. More than 130 representatives from around the world attended.
Rosewwarne (pictured) told the conference that in the current global market New Zealand King Salmon fetched some of the highest prices, with strong branding at its core.
However, he conceded that it was a difficult fish to breed. Canada and the United States had largely given up on the species, but farmers in New Zealand took quite a different view and were now producing more than 8,000 tonnes a year, around half of the total world supply – and demand was strong.
The former Unilever executive had travelled 9,000 miles at the invitation of Marel to be at the conference in the Danish capital and he said he was full of praise for demonstrations of the company’s new slicing machines and the new QC system.
‘I’m impressed by the slicing machines that are able to go from C slice to D slice – gentle handling that suits our premium brands and achieves really good presentation of our smoked salmon,’ he said.
‘The new QC system could really help us determine the processes for individual fillets, and I’m waiting to see how that goes further. This has been a really valuable trip despite the long travelling hours from New Zealand!’
Lars Jöker, managing director of Marel Salmon, said: ‘This is the 17th time we’ve held the Salmon ShowHow and we’re thrilled with this latest event.
‘These are especially exciting times for salmon processing, with greater than ever levels of automation and ever increasing opportunities for raising quality and creating new and more diverse products.’